Tie rod for concrete wall forms



May 2 6, 1959 N. M. CLARK 2,887,758

- TIE 'ROD FOR CONCRETE WALL FORMS Filed Dec. 4, 195e /f f" i@ uw@ www@ 'H EQN IN VEN TOR.

BY A $2/ United States Patent O TIE ROD FOR CONCRETE WALL FORMS Neil M. Clark, Minneapolis, Minn., assignor to Waco Manufacturing Company, Minneapolis, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota Application December 4, 1956, Serial No. 626,216

2 Claims. (Cl. 25-131) My invention relates to a novel and improved tie rod for use in concrete wall form constructions.

Such tie rods conventionally extend between cooperating, laterally spaced opposed vertical wall form sections and retain the same in position during pouring and until the setting of the concrete wall forming material poured therebetween. Tie rods are frequently formed from a strip of steel stock to form what is generally known as a flat tie or from a length of metallic wire to form what is known as a wire tie. The flat tie is generally provided with slots adjacent its opposite ends and the tie rod generally has the ends thereof bent into the form of longitudinally elongated loops both vto form bolt-receiving holes or slots for the reception of locking bolts which engage the wall forms at right `angles to the tie rods. After the concrete material has hardened between assembled wall form constructions of the type for which my novel and improved tie rod is generally to be used, the wall form sections or panels are dismantled or removed from the formed concrete wall. The central portion of the -tie rods is embedded in the concrete wall leaving the ends thereof projecting beyond the wall on each side thereof. It is of course desirable to sever or break these tie rods adjacent the sides of the wall; and for this purpose, conventional tie rods are provided with a pair of longitudinally spaced break-olf points, which may be spaced along the rod each on opposite sides of the center thereof a distance depending upon the thickness of the concrete Wall desired. Each break-off point being disposed adjacent one lateral sidev of the formed concrete Wall. In assembling the concrete wall form sections, a plurality of upstanding panels are connected by wedges and bolts in edge to edge relationship to form one side of the wall form construction. The same bolts and Wedges connecting adjacent panels also anchor the generally horizontally disposed tie members in position so that the ties are placed in position during assembly of this one side of the wall form construction. Next, and. before setting up the other side of the wall form1 con` struction, metallic reinforcing wires or rods are placed horizontally and vertically in position to form a reinforced concrete Wall. In placing these reinforcing wires or rods in position, it has been found that the workmen will frequently bend the outwardly projecting horizontally disposed tie rods which rods must be straightened to be usable in the wall form construction. This bending and straightening of tie rods of course occurs at the weakest points of the tie rods which may be at one of the aforementioned break-o1f points; and such bending and straightening has been known to completely sever a tie rod or to weaken it to the extent that it will not accomplish its intended function. When such a tie rod has been severed or weakened, it must either be replaced, resulting in a considerable loss of time in disassembling already positioned wall forms,Y` or as occurs in most cases, the tie rods are not replaced resulting in a weakened wall form construction.

The aforementioned problem has existed for some time with respect to wall form constructions of the type hereunder consideration without any solution thereof for the reason, I believe, that it has generally been considered that a strengthening of the' break-olf points to eliminate the aforementioned problem would destroy the intended function of said break-olf points.

The primary object of my invention is to overcome the aforementioned problem and provide a novel and improved tie rod which is strengthened adjacent the breakolf points but which is still capable of being severed at said y v,

movement thereof but not appreciably affect an edgeways i bending movement thereof.

The particular structure and function of my invention together with the above and further objects and advantages thereof will become apparent in the course of the following specication and claims, reference being had to the drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view partly in horizontal'section and partly in plan of a wall form construction Patented May 26, 1959 utilizing the tie rod of my invention and showing a` formed concrete wall therebetween;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view partly in vertical section and partly in elevation taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view partly in horizontal section and partly in plan of a partially assembled wall form construction showing in full lines the bending of the tie rod from its normally straight position as shown in dotted lines;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 2 but. showing one side ofthe wall form construction disassembled or removed from the concrete wall and showing a breaking of the tie rod adjacent one side of the concrete wall at a break olf point in the tie rod;

Fig. 5 is a view of my novel and improved tie rod;

Fig. 6 is a view in section taken on the line 6--6 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a view in section taken on the line 7-7 of' Fig. 6.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, wherein like parts will be indicated by the same numeral, and referring first to Figs. 5 7, my novel and improved tie rodr is speciiically of the flat tie type and is identified in v)its entirety by the general reference numeral 10. Tie rod 10 is a longitudinally extended metallic member formed from conventionalsteel strip stock and cut to the desired length. Tie rod 10 has a pair of elongated slots 11 formed therein each adjacent a different one of the ends thereof.

Tie rod 10 has a pair of longitudinally spaced breakoif points, indicated generally by the numeral 12, which are formed by two pairs of opposed break-olf notches 13 which are V-shaped cuts in the lateral longitudinal edges 14 of tie rod 10i. To sever or break off the tie rod 10 at either of the points 12, tie rod 10 is generally struck a blow along a longitudinal edge 14 which will sever the rod 10 along a line connecting the bottoms 15 of opposed notches 13.

To substantially strengthen tie rods 10 against lateral displacement adjacent break-olf points 12 but yet not substantially affect the break-off function or characteristic thereof, I provide a pair of longitudinally spaced ribs 16 by laterally displacing a portion of the metal thereof in a direction normal to the face 17 of tie rod 10. Ribs 16 are preferably centrally disposed each betweenN a different one offthel two pairs of notches 13.

Ribs 16 changeV the-contour of tie rods 10 to provide sitely disposed relationship to form a defined space into which concrete material is poured to form a concrete vertical wall. The like panels might be formed of metal, Wood, or partly Wood and partly metal. Referring to Figs. 1 land 2, I show a fragment of a wall form construction comprising `a pair of opposed panels 17 and a pair of opposed panels 17A. Each of the panels 17 and 17Acomprise a rectangular plywood face 13 and a rectangular rim 19 of 2 x 4s about the periphery of the face 18'. The sides of thepanels 17 and 17A are notched as-l shown at 20 in Fig. 2 to receive the tie members 10. Oppositely disposed panels 17 and 17A are heldand connected in rigid spaced apart relationship by the ties 10. Adjacent panels, that is one panel 17 and one panel 17A, `are connected together by a conventional wedge and bolt arrangement which is well known in the art which also act to anchor the 4ties 10 in position. See, for example, the pending U.S. application of Arthur F. Allen, entitled, Sectional Forms for Concrete Walls and theV Like, S.N.` 597,814, filed July 13, 1956, now assigned to the assignee of the present invention and now abandoned, which shows locking bolts 24 and wedge bolts 26.

Normally, in assembling a wall form construction using panels of the type 17 and 17A, one side or series of adjacent panels, as shown in the fragmentary View Fig. 3, isrst set up; next, the reinforcingy wires or rods 21 are put in position which are to provide reinforced concrete; and then, the other side or series of opposed panels 17 and 17A are put into position. After the panels have been properly positioned, concrete material is poured into the defined space therebetween. This-concrete material is referred to by the numeral 22 in the drawings. Referring to Fig. 3, when a workman or workmen are inserting the reinforcing rods 21, ties are apt to be accidentally laterally bent or displaced. With respect to, my invention, and as shown in Fig. 3, my novel and `improved tie rods 10 if accidentally displaced will form a gradual bend along the length thereof and if such occurs, tie rod 10 may be bent back to its normal straight position as shown in dotted line in Fig. 3 Without severing or weakening the tie rod 10. With a conventional tie rod, such accidental bending or displacement of the tie rod would cause a sharp bend at the Weakest point thereof which would be one of the break-off points 12. Either the initial bending or straightening of the conventional tie rod is apt to either sever it or weaken it.

This problem is overcome by tie rod 10 because ribs 16y effectively strengthen the weak or break-olf points 12 against lateral sideways movement of tie rod 10. However, as already mentioned, ribs 16 do not appreciably aect edgeways movement of tie rod 10 so rods 10 may be severed at break-off points 12 in the same manner as a conventional tie without ribs 16. Referring to Fig. 4, I have shown one side of the Wall form construction removed from the formed concrete, and I show a partial severing of the tie rod 10 atone of the breakotfpoints 12. As shown in Fig. 4, this severing takes place along a line between the bottoms 15 of opposed notches 13. This break-off occurs at the side of the formed'concrete wall to present a neat appearance thereof.

Although I have shown, referring particularly to Figs. 2 and 4, the break-off points 12 disposed substantially coincident with the sides of the formed concrete wall, it is preferred and generally customary to dispose the breakolf-points 12 laterally inwardly of the sides of the concrete Wall and embedded therein approximately 1/2 inch. Thus, when tie rod 10 is severed at its opposite ends, small portions of the cement Wall will break or chip away adjacent the ends of the severed tie 10. These small chipped portions of the -cement Wall can then-be easily filled with cement orV the like which will then completely cover the severed ends of the tie rod 10; and this will protect the surfaces of the concrete wall from rust streaks and the like.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that my invention may be modified in many respects and that this disclosure is intended to be illustrative only; therefore, I intend to be limited solely by the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A tie rod for use in concrete wall form constructions comprising a longitudinally extended metallic meinber of ilat bar stock having longitudinally extended side edges and having two longitudinally spaced pairs of opposed break-off notches in said side edges thereof, and rib portions integral with said member extending longitudinaily thereof and disposed between the opposed notches of each of said pairs of notches.

2. The-'structure defined in claim 1 in which said rib portions comprise a pair of longitudinally spaced ribs formed in said member each centrally disposed between the opposed notches of a different one of said pairs of notches.

References Citedr in thele of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,920,607 Summers Aug. 1, 1933 2,020,912 Schenk Nov. 12, 1935 2,074,394 Hoffer Mar. 23, 1937 2,442,962 Rumblel June 8, 1948 2,613,424 Kenney Oct. 14, 1952 2,657,449 Hillberg Nov. 3, 1953 

